Creating a Lively Asahiyama Zoo
Excerpt from Zoo Director KOSUGE Masao's Speech on Creating the Most Popular Zoo in Japan

I first heard the pronouncement, "Zoos are a mature industry" in a speech made by the president of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Although this may not seem to have any negative connotations, when rephrasing the statement, it sounds as though zoos have already matured and that there is no room for further development. In other words, the public views zoos as places with little life or energy remaining.

There are 95 zoos affiliated with the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums, making Japan a country with a relatively large number. It is taken for granted that a zoo can always be found close by. Even though they come in various shapes and sizes, zoos across the country have often been modeled after such leaders as the Ueno Zoo, and thus were bound to look alike. Zoo diversification did not occur, and this is perhaps the cause of the label, "mature industry."

Yearly visitors to the Asahiyama Zoo peaked at 590,000 in 1983 before declining to 260,000 in 1996. Those who did visit the zoo lodged complaints that "the animals don't move, all they do is sleep," or "zoos are no fun, they are always the same." Animal rights groups even charged that the treatment of animals in the zoo was "despicable." This trend was not unique to the Asahiyama Zoo and was occurring across the country. It was puzzling that Japanese people, who love animals so much, would stop visiting zoos.

Despite the drop in attendance, television shows about animals were abundant. The animals featured on TV were full of life and never seemed to stop for rest. There were tigers tossing around deer and cheetahs using their tremendous speed to chase down prey. Furthermore, shots of animals raising their offspring stole the hearts of the public. This impression of animals became ingrained in the public's mind, and when attending a zoo, visitors who witnessed animals napping or making little movement came to the conclusion that this was unnatural behaviour.

However, real live animals should by no means lose out to mere images on a screen. At a zoo, the visitor gets to see the animals face to face. We reckoned that if the animals in the zoo were as energetic as those seen on TV, visitors would surely come in flocks.

As compared to animals in the wild, a zoo animal is required to make almost no effort to acquire food. The most fundamental activity in life is securing food, and zoos were robbing animals of the basic joy of searching for, finding, and gathering food. In other words, a portion of their life was being taken away. Through evolution, animals have developed various physical traits which assist them in catching prey. The animals not only enjoy utilising their distinctive traits, but doing so gives them life. By allowing the animals to utilise their individual skills, they are able to demonstrate their characteristic behaviour which in turn becomes an attractive exhibit. Thus, the focal point of our now infamous "behavioural exhibits" is the origin of animals' energy.